What does a family mean? Is it just the ones who live with you in your house? Or does the term expand to mean more than that; to include those who have contributed to who you are, who have lived their life and passed on their genetic material to others who have done the same, and eventually the outcome was you?
I didn't know my great-grandmother very well. Not because I never met her, I used to visit her with my parents and grandparents often. But I was young, and she was very old. I gave her a hug and then ran off to explore her house and yard. Now I wish I might have one of those moments back, and I would sit down on the old springy couch next to her and ask her so many questions about her life. I wonder who she was as a young person. When she had the energy and vigor of youth, what drove her? What was she passionate about? What hurt her and why? Other than her Savior, who was Jesus Christ to her?
She's no longer living. She died in the 90's when she was in her late 90's. I won't ever get the moments I had with her back. But I still wonder about her. I wonder about all the different people that went into the making of me. I know some of them well, but none of them well enough. If we truly understood the people that came before us, and learned all the lessons of their lives as well as they did, maybe we could go farther in our own lives then we ever thought we could. Without the burden of the mistakes so many of us repeat generation after generation, what could we get done for the kingdom that we aren't getting done today?
Just my thoughts for today. Maybe this is a question with no answer. Maybe children can not be taught to appreciate the treasure they have in grandparents and great-grandparents, and even in their own parents. But it's sure worth a try for the next generation.
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